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UTET Paper 2 study materials
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UTET Paper 2 practice questions

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Question 1Child Development and Pedagogy

According to Piaget, the understanding that an object continues to exist even when it is hidden from view is first achieved in which stage of cognitive development?

  1. Preoperational stage
  2. Concrete operational stage
  3. Sensorimotor stage Correct answer.
  4. Formal operational stage

Explanation

Object permanence is the hallmark achievement of the sensorimotor stage, emerging as infants coordinate sensory input with motor action and begin to search for hidden objects. Later stages build on this foundation rather than first establishing it.

Question 2Child Development and Pedagogy

In Vygotsky's theory, the zone of proximal development is the distance between what a learner can do alone and what the learner can do:

  1. after all instruction has been completed
  2. only after a formal examination
  3. without any social interaction
  4. with adult or more capable peer support Correct answer.

Explanation

The zone of proximal development describes tasks that are just beyond a learner's independent reach but achievable with scaffolding from a teacher or more capable peer. It is therefore defined by the gap between independent performance and assisted performance.

Question 3Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil says, 'I will not copy in the test because I may be caught and punished.' In Kohlberg's scheme, this reasoning belongs to which orientation?

  1. Punishment and obedience orientation Correct answer.
  2. Universal ethical principle orientation
  3. Social contract orientation
  4. Good boy-good girl orientation

Explanation

Avoiding cheating because of feared punishment reflects the first pre-conventional stage, where morality is judged by external consequences to the self. The focus is on avoiding punishment rather than on approval, social agreement, or abstract principles.

Question 4Child Development and Pedagogy

A science teacher first lets pupils handle and move a lever, then shows diagrams of it, and finally introduces the formula. This sequence best reflects Bruner's modes of representation in the order:

  1. sensory, preoperational and concrete
  2. concrete, formal and abstract
  3. acquisition, consolidation and transfer
  4. enactive, iconic and symbolic Correct answer.

Explanation

Bruner proposed that learners represent knowledge first through action, then through images, and finally through symbols such as language and formulae. Handling the lever is enactive, diagrams are iconic, and the formula is symbolic.

Question 5Child Development and Pedagogy

According to Erikson's psychosocial theory, the central task of adolescence is to resolve which crisis?

  1. Identity versus role confusion Correct answer.
  2. Intimacy versus isolation
  3. Initiative versus guilt
  4. Industry versus inferiority

Explanation

Erikson placed identity formation at the centre of adolescence, as young people explore values, roles, and commitments and seek a coherent sense of self. Failure to consolidate this exploration can leave role confusion.

Question 6Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil learns best when allowed to move around, handle apparatus, and perform physical demonstrations. In Gardner's theory, this pupil shows strength mainly in:

  1. spatial intelligence
  2. interpersonal intelligence
  3. bodily-kinesthetic intelligence Correct answer.
  4. logical-mathematical intelligence

Explanation

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence involves skilled use of the body and hands to solve problems or create products, which matches learning through movement and manipulation. Spatial intelligence concerns visualising space, while interpersonal and logical-mathematical abilities address social understanding and reasoning respectively.

Question 7Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil of average general ability consistently reverses digits, cannot grasp place value, and struggles with basic number facts despite regular teaching. This pattern is most characteristic of:

  1. dyscalculia Correct answer.
  2. dyslexia
  3. dysgraphia
  4. dyspraxia

Explanation

Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability that affects number sense, place value, and arithmetic fact retrieval, and it can occur in pupils of otherwise average ability. The described difficulties with digits, place value, and number facts point to this condition rather than to reading or writing difficulties.

Question 8Child Development and Pedagogy

A child who already has a schema for 'horse' sees a zebra and calls it a 'horse'. In Piaget's terminology, this response is best described as:

  1. equilibration
  2. assimilation Correct answer.
  3. accommodation
  4. conservation

Explanation

Assimilation occurs when new information is interpreted through an existing schema without changing that schema, as when a zebra is fitted into the child's horse concept. Accommodation would require modifying the concept to distinguish zebras from horses.

Question 9Child Development and Pedagogy

At the start of the session, a mathematics teacher tests pupils on fractions to identify the specific sub-skills they have not yet mastered. This assessment is primarily:

  1. summative assessment
  2. diagnostic assessment Correct answer.
  3. ipsative assessment
  4. norm-referenced assessment

Explanation

Diagnostic assessment is used before or during instruction to locate specific learning gaps and guide remediation, which matches testing sub-skills in fractions at the start of the session. It differs from summative assessment, which judges achievement at the end of a course.

Question 10Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil reads extra books about space because she finds the topic absorbing, even though no reward or grade is offered. Her behaviour is best explained by:

  1. achievement anxiety
  2. intrinsic motivation Correct answer.
  3. negative reinforcement
  4. extrinsic motivation

Explanation

Intrinsic motivation arises from interest, enjoyment, and satisfaction in the activity itself, as when a pupil reads about space simply because the topic fascinates her. Extrinsic motivation would depend on external rewards or pressures such as grades or praise.

Question 11Child Development and Pedagogy

A seven-year-old is shown two identical balls of clay; one is then rolled into a long thin shape. She says the amount of clay is still the same because nothing was added or removed. In Piaget's theory, this response shows that she has attained:

  1. object permanence, since the clay continues to exist in a new shape
  2. egocentric thought, since she judges from her own viewpoint
  3. hypothetico-deductive reasoning, since she reasons about a transformation
  4. conservation, since quantity is unchanged by appearance Correct answer.

Explanation

Conservation is the understanding that a quantity remains the same despite a change in its appearance, provided nothing is added or removed. Children in Piaget's concrete operational stage typically master conservation of mass, length and number, whereas preoperational children are misled by perceptual features. Object permanence belongs to the sensorimotor stage, and hypothetico-deductive reasoning belongs to the formal operational stage.

Question 12Child Development and Pedagogy

During a mathematics task, a pupil whispers the steps to herself: 'First align the digits, then borrow.' According to Vygotsky, this private speech is best understood as:

  1. a behaviourist habit learned through reinforcement
  2. a sign of immature egocentrism that should be discouraged
  3. evidence that the pupil has not yet acquired language
  4. social speech being internalised to guide self-regulation Correct answer.

Explanation

Vygotsky treated private speech as the internalisation of social dialogue: the child first hears guidance from others and then reproduces it to plan and regulate her own action. It later becomes silent inner speech rather than disappearing as mere egocentrism. It is therefore a cognitive tool, not a language deficit or a reinforced habit.

Question 13Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil says, 'I will not report my friend for copying; a loyal friend should not tell on friends, and my classmates will think I am a good friend.' In Kohlberg's theory, this reasoning belongs to:

  1. the interpersonal concordance orientation of the conventional level Correct answer.
  2. the social contract orientation of the post-conventional level
  3. the punishment and obedience orientation of the pre-conventional level
  4. the universal ethical principle orientation of the post-conventional level

Explanation

Kohlberg's stage 3, the interpersonal concordance or 'good boy-good girl' orientation, judges actions by the approval of close others and by loyalty. It belongs to the conventional level. Pre-conventional punishment avoidance is stage 1, while social contract and universal principles are post-conventional.

Question 14Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil watches a confident classmate solve a problem aloud and then attempts the same strategy when working alone. In Bandura's social learning theory, the pupil's behaviour is mainly explained by:

  1. classical conditioning through repeated pairing
  2. observational learning through modelling and vicarious reinforcement Correct answer.
  3. maturation of the nervous system
  4. trial-and-error reinforcement of random responses

Explanation

Bandura's observational learning holds that pupils acquire and reproduce behaviour by attending to models, retaining what they see, and being motivated by vicarious consequences. Watching a confident peer succeed can raise the observer's own expectation of success. This is not simple conditioning or maturation.

Question 15Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil has age-appropriate reading and oral expression but produces very poor handwriting, irregular letter spacing, and frequently reverses letter forms when writing by hand. The most likely specific learning difficulty is:

  1. dysphasia, affecting understanding of spoken language
  2. dyslexia
  3. dysgraphia Correct answer.
  4. dyscalculia

Explanation

Dysgraphia is a specific difficulty in written expression and handwriting despite adequate reading and oral language. The pupil's irregular spacing and letter reversals in writing, with intact reading and speech, fit this profile. Dyslexia primarily affects reading, dyscalculia affects arithmetic, and dysphasia affects language comprehension.

Question 16Child Development and Pedagogy

A teacher pauses midway through a lesson, asks pupils to solve one problem on a small slate, reviews their responses, and immediately revises the next activity. This practice is best described as:

  1. norm-referenced assessment, because pupils are ranked
  2. formative assessment, because evidence is used to adjust teaching during learning Correct answer.
  3. diagnostic assessment, because it identifies a permanent disability
  4. summative assessment, because it yields a final grade

Explanation

Formative assessment is assessment for learning: evidence gathered during teaching is used to adjust the next step. It is not primarily a final grade, a ranking, or a permanent diagnostic label. Immediate review of slate responses and revision of the activity is a clear formative cycle.

Question 17Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil is good at judging which of two routes to school is shorter and at applying classroom lessons to fix a bicycle, but she scores only average on abstract reasoning tests. In Sternberg's triarchic theory, her strength lies mainly in:

  1. existential intelligence
  2. linguistic intelligence
  3. practical intelligence Correct answer.
  4. analytical intelligence

Explanation

Sternberg's practical intelligence concerns adapting to and shaping real-world contexts, such as comparing routes or repairing a bicycle. Analytical intelligence is closer to abstract, academic problem solving. Linguistic and existential intelligences belong to Gardner's multiple intelligences, not Sternberg's triarchic theory.

Question 18Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil who dislikes copying from the board is allowed to stop copying once he completes an oral summary of the lesson. Afterwards he completes oral summaries more often. In operant conditioning terms, this is:

  1. positive reinforcement, because a reward is added
  2. extinction, because the copying is no longer reinforced
  3. negative reinforcement, because removing an aversive task strengthens behaviour Correct answer.
  4. punishment, because an aversive task is removed

Explanation

Negative reinforcement increases a behaviour by removing an aversive condition after the response. Here copying is removed once oral summarising occurs, so oral summarising becomes more frequent. Positive reinforcement adds a reward, punishment decreases behaviour, and extinction removes the consequence that maintains behaviour.

Question 19Child Development and Pedagogy

A child says 'I goed to the park' even though adults around her say 'went'. This overgeneralisation is most consistent with:

  1. direct imitation of adult speech
  2. a behaviourist account in which errors are copied from caregivers
  3. an innate language acquisition device that applies rules beyond the input Correct answer.
  4. reinforcement of every correct verb form

Explanation

Overgeneralising 'goed' shows that the child has extracted a past-tense rule and applied it to an irregular verb she has not heard in that form. Chomsky's language acquisition device explains this rule-governed creativity from limited input. Imitation and reinforcement accounts struggle to explain novel errors that adults do not model.

Question 20Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil argues that a class rule should be changed because it hurts a shy classmate's feelings, and that the teacher should listen to the classmate before deciding. Gilligan's critique of Kohlberg would use this example to claim that:

  1. moral development should also value an ethic of care and responsibility in relationships Correct answer.
  2. girls reach conventional morality later than boys
  3. moral reasoning should be based only on rewards and punishments
  4. abstract justice reasoning is always superior to care reasoning

Explanation

Gilligan argued that Kohlberg's justice-based stages privileged abstract rules and undervalued an ethic of care, responsibility, and responsiveness to relationships. The pupil's concern for a classmate's feelings illustrates that orientation. Gilligan did not claim that girls develop later, nor that care is inferior to justice.

Question 21Child Development and Pedagogy

A nursery teacher observes that infants in her class first gain control over the neck muscles, then the trunk, and only later learn to walk. This head-to-foot direction of development is described as

  1. canalisation
  2. differentiation
  3. cephalocaudal development Correct answer.
  4. proximodistal development

Explanation

Cephalocaudal development refers to the head-to-foot direction in which physical growth and motor control proceed: the neck is controlled before the trunk, and the trunk before the legs. Proximodistal development describes the other axis, from the centre of the body outward to the limbs. Recognising this sequence helps a teacher plan motor activities that match a child's maturational level instead of pushing skills too early.

Question 22Child Development and Pedagogy

In Ainsworth's strange situation procedure, a toddler plays happily while the mother is present, becomes visibly distressed when she leaves, and settles quickly and returns to play when she comes back. This pattern of behaviour is classified as

  1. anxious-avoidant attachment
  2. secure attachment Correct answer.
  3. disorganised-disoriented attachment
  4. ambivalent-resistant attachment

Explanation

A secure attachment pattern is identified when the infant uses the caregiver as a safe base for exploration, shows clear distress at separation, and is readily comforted on reunion. Avoidant infants show little distress and may ignore the returning caregiver, while resistant infants stay upset and are hard to soothe. Secure attachment is associated with sensitive, consistently responsive caregiving in the first year of life.

Question 23Child Development and Pedagogy

Parents who set firm, age-appropriate rules, explain the reasons behind them, and listen to their child's viewpoint while retaining final authority are following which parenting pattern described by Baumrind?

  1. authoritarian parenting
  2. uninvolved parenting
  3. authoritative parenting Correct answer.
  4. permissive parenting

Explanation

Authoritative parenting combines high expectations with warmth and open two-way communication, so control is exercised through explanation rather than sheer power. Authoritarian parenting is high on control but low on warmth and dialogue, while permissive parenting is warm but sets few demands. Baumrind associated authoritative parenting with better self-regulation and social competence in children.

Question 24Child Development and Pedagogy

A Class VI pupil speaks fluently and follows oral instructions well, but reads very slowly, often reverses letters such as b and d, and struggles to link spoken sounds with written letters. This profile is most characteristic of

  1. dyspraxia
  2. dysgraphia
  3. dyslexia Correct answer.
  4. dyscalculia

Explanation

Dyslexia is a specific difficulty in accurate and fluent word reading, decoding and spelling, usually involving weak phonological processing while general ability and oral language remain adequate. The letter reversals and poor sound-letter mapping described are classic early signs. The teacher's response should include structured phonics, extra reading time and oral evaluation arrangements rather than attributing the difficulty to low effort.

Question 25Child Development and Pedagogy

A teacher solving long-division sums with a pupil first models every step, then lets the pupil work while pointing to a cue card, and finally withdraws both the modelling and the card. This graded support matched to the pupil's growing competence is best described as

  1. a fixed-interval reinforcement schedule
  2. shaping
  3. programmed instruction
  4. scaffolding Correct answer.

Explanation

Scaffolding is temporary, responsive support that is gradually withdrawn as the learner takes over the task, and it is closely tied to Vygotsky's idea of assisted performance within the zone of proximal development. The essential feature is fading: help is reduced as competence rises, leaving the learner in control. Shaping, by contrast, reinforces successive approximations of a behaviour rather than adjusting cognitive support to a task.

Question 26Child Development and Pedagogy

Before beginning a lesson on photosynthesis, a teacher spends five minutes recalling what pupils already know about roots absorbing water and leaves receiving sunlight, then presents a brief organising framework linking this to the new topic. In Ausubel's theory this opening framework is an example of

  1. a summative assessment
  2. a discovery-learning task
  3. an advance organiser Correct answer.
  4. a reinforcer

Explanation

Ausubel argued that the most important factor in learning is what the learner already knows, and that a device presented before the material provides a bridge between existing knowledge and new content. An advance organiser is deliberately more abstract and inclusive than the material that follows, so pupils can anchor the details to it. It differs from a summary, which is given after the content has been taught.

Question 27Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil who has recently moved to the city refuses to enter through the school gate and says older boys threaten him every morning in the corridor. According to Maslow's need hierarchy, the teacher's most appropriate first step is to

  1. encourage him to express himself through creative art projects
  2. move him quickly into an enrichment programme for high achievers
  3. ensure his physical safety and a secure classroom routine Correct answer.
  4. refer him for remedial coaching in mathematics

Explanation

Maslow's hierarchy places physiological and safety needs below belonging, esteem and self-actualisation, and lower needs dominate attention until they are reasonably met. A pupil who fears being harmed cannot give sustained attention to higher-order learning tasks. The teacher therefore attends first to protection and predictability, and only then to belonging and achievement.

Question 28Child Development and Pedagogy

Pupils shown ten unrelated number-letter pairs remember only about four, but remember about nine of the same items when the pairs are grouped into three meaningful categories. The most defensible explanation is that

  1. grouping cuts the number of units stored Correct answer.
  2. visual items do not need rehearsal
  3. sensory memory lasts longer for grouped items
  4. forgetting is caused mainly by proactive inhibition

Explanation

Working memory is limited in the number of units it can hold, and chunking recodes many items into a few meaningful units, so more information fits within the same capacity. The grouping changes the unit count, not the amount of sensory input or the need for rehearsal. This is why teachers present material in structured categories rather than as long undifferentiated lists.

Question 29Child Development and Pedagogy

In a unit test taken by 40 pupils, an item is answered correctly by 34 of them. Its difficulty index (p value) is therefore about 0.85, which indicates that the item

  1. was relatively easy for this group Correct answer.
  2. had a negative discrimination index
  3. was unreliable across repeated testing
  4. discriminated poorly between boys and girls

Explanation

The difficulty index is simply the proportion of examinees answering an item correctly, so 34 out of 40 gives p = 0.85, a relatively easy item. Difficulty and discrimination are separate indices: discrimination compares high and low scorers and cannot be inferred from p alone. A test consisting mostly of very easy or very hard items yields a narrow spread of scores.

Question 30Child Development and Pedagogy

A mathematics test for Class VIII consists of ten essay questions asking pupils to describe the lives of famous mathematicians, while achievement in the intended topics of algebra and geometry is barely assessed. The most serious flaw in this test is that it lacks

  1. administrative feasibility
  2. test-retest reliability
  3. objectivity of scoring
  4. content validity Correct answer.

Explanation

Content validity concerns how well test items sample the knowledge and skills the curriculum intends to assess; a mathematics paper asking for biographical essays does not represent the algebraic and geometric learning outcomes. Reliability concerns consistency, objectivity concerns agreement among scorers, and feasibility concerns practical administration, so none of these is the central failure described. A test must first match the objectives it claims to measure.

Question 31Child Development and Pedagogy

A Class IV pupil can classify shapes by two criteria and understands that a ball of clay keeps its mass when reshaped, but she cannot reason abstractly about a hypothetical proposition. In Piaget's theory, this pupil is most likely in the

  1. concrete operational stage Correct answer.
  2. formal operational stage
  3. sensorimotor stage
  4. preoperational stage

Explanation

Piaget's concrete operational stage, roughly ages 7 to 11, is shown by conservation, classification and reversible operations applied to concrete objects. Abstract hypothetical reasoning is a later formal-operational achievement, while sensorimotor and preoperational children have not yet attained conservation.

Question 32Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil returns a borrowed book only because he fears the teacher will punish him if it is found missing. In Kohlberg's theory, this reasoning belongs to the

  1. post-conventional level
  2. conventional level
  3. pre-moral level
  4. pre-conventional level Correct answer.

Explanation

Kohlberg's pre-conventional level includes punishment-and-obedience and instrumental-exchange reasoning, where moral decisions are guided by avoiding punishment or gaining rewards. Conventional reasoning focuses on social approval or law and order, and post-conventional reasoning appeals to universal ethical principles.

Question 33Child Development and Pedagogy

According to Vygotsky, the gap between what a pupil can do independently and what she can do with timely guidance from a more capable adult or peer is called the

  1. zone of maximum performance
  2. scaffolding
  3. conservation
  4. zone of proximal development Correct answer.

Explanation

Vygotsky defined the zone of proximal development as the distance between a child's independent performance and potential performance with adult or peer guidance. Scaffolding is the temporary support provided within that zone, not the gap itself.

Question 34Child Development and Pedagogy

During a class project, a 15-year-old repeatedly seeks feedback from friends about her clothes and opinions, tries several club roles, and asks, 'What kind of person will I become?' In Erikson's psychosocial theory, the central crisis is

  1. identity versus role confusion Correct answer.
  2. trust versus mistrust
  3. intimacy versus isolation
  4. industry versus inferiority

Explanation

Erikson's adolescent stage is identity versus role confusion, marked by exploration of roles, values and self-definition. Industry versus inferiority belongs to school-age competence, while intimacy versus isolation is a young-adulthood issue.

Question 35Child Development and Pedagogy

The same topic, 'water', is introduced in Class III through observation of floating and sinking, revisited in Class VI through the water cycle, and extended in Class VIII through conservation of water resources. This curriculum organisation reflects

  1. core curriculum
  2. activity curriculum
  3. spiral curriculum Correct answer.
  4. hidden curriculum

Explanation

A spiral curriculum, associated with Bruner, revisits key concepts at increasing levels of depth and complexity across grade levels. Hidden curriculum refers to unintended lessons, core curriculum to compulsory common content, and activity curriculum to learning through purposeful activity.

Question 36Child Development and Pedagogy

Throughout a term, a teacher keeps each pupil's rough drafts, corrected assignments, self-check notes and final projects, and reviews the collection with the pupil to discuss progress. This assessment practice is best described as

  1. an intelligence test
  2. a summative board examination
  3. portfolio assessment Correct answer.
  4. a norm-referenced test

Explanation

Portfolio assessment is the systematic collection of a pupil's work over time, often including drafts, reflections and final products, used to document progress and achievement. Norm-referenced tests compare pupils with one another, and summative examinations usually sample achievement at the end of a course.

Question 37Child Development and Pedagogy

A Class V pupil reads and writes age-appropriate text and speaks fluently, but persistently struggles to recall number facts, understand place value and carry out calculation, despite extra practice. This pattern is most characteristic of

  1. attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
  2. dysgraphia
  3. dyslexia
  4. dyscalculia Correct answer.

Explanation

Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability affecting number sense, arithmetic fact retrieval, place value and calculation, while language and reading may be age-appropriate. Dyslexia primarily affects reading and spelling, dysgraphia affects writing, and ADHD affects attention and impulse control.

Question 38Child Development and Pedagogy

An infant calls every four-legged animal 'doggie'. After seeing a goat and hearing it named, she changes her category so that 'doggie' now applies only to dogs and 'goat' to goats. In Piaget's theory, this change is an example of

  1. egocentrism
  2. assimilation
  3. accommodation Correct answer.
  4. conservation

Explanation

Accommodation occurs when a child changes an existing schema to fit a new experience, as when the category 'doggie' is revised after seeing a goat. Assimilation would instead mean fitting the goat into the old dog category without changing it.

Question 39Child Development and Pedagogy

A teacher administers a mathematics test twice to the same class and obtains very similar ranks each time, but the test contains only questions requiring recall of formulae although the syllabus stresses problem-solving. Which statement is most accurate?

  1. The test is neither reliable nor valid.
  2. The test is valid but not reliable.
  3. The test is reliable but not valid for its intended purpose. Correct answer.
  4. The test is both reliable and valid.

Explanation

Reliability refers to consistency of scores across occasions or items, while validity refers to whether the test actually measures the intended learning outcomes. Similar ranks on repeated administrations indicate reliability, but recall-only items do not adequately assess the syllabus emphasis on problem-solving, so validity is weak.

Question 40Child Development and Pedagogy

A pupil from a deprived background comes to school without breakfast, has slept poorly, and cannot concentrate on the lesson. In Maslow's hierarchy, which need is most directly blocking higher-level learning?

  1. esteem needs
  2. self-actualisation needs
  3. physiological needs Correct answer.
  4. belongingness needs

Explanation

Maslow placed food, water, sleep and shelter at the base of the hierarchy as physiological needs. When these are unmet, attention is drawn to survival, making it difficult to pursue belongingness, esteem or self-actualisation.

Question 41Language I

In the sentence 'She is ____ honest woman and everyone in the village respects her', which article correctly completes the blank?

  1. a
  2. No article is needed
  3. an Correct answer.
  4. the

Explanation

The choice between 'a' and 'an' depends on the initial sound, not the initial letter. In 'honest' the letter h is silent, so the word begins with the vowel sound /ɒ/, and a singular countable noun beginning with a vowel sound therefore takes 'an'.

Question 42Language I

A head teacher is praised because she plans every lesson 'meticulously'. Which word is closest in meaning to 'meticulously' in this context?

  1. Carelessly
  2. Indifferently
  3. Hastily
  4. Scrupulously Correct answer.

Explanation

'Meticulous' describes great attention to detail and careful accuracy. 'Scrupulous' carries the same sense of thorough, careful correctness, so the adverb 'scrupulously' fits a description of carefully prepared lessons.

Question 43Language I

According to the standard description of Received Pronunciation followed in Indian English textbooks, how many vowel sounds does English have, counting both pure vowels and diphthongs?

  1. 8
  2. 20 Correct answer.
  3. 5
  4. 12

Explanation

The usual textbook description gives 12 pure vowels (monophthongs) and 8 diphthongs, making 20 vowel sounds in all. The number five refers to the vowel letters of the Roman alphabet, which is a different matter from the sound system.

Question 44Language I

Which option is the correct passive transformation of the sentence 'The teacher is explaining the new lesson'?

  1. The new lesson has been explained by the teacher.
  2. The new lesson is explained by the teacher.
  3. The new lesson was being explained by the teacher.
  4. The new lesson is being explained by the teacher. Correct answer.

Explanation

The active verb 'is explaining' is in the present continuous, and the passive keeps the same tense and aspect as 'is being explained'. The object 'the new lesson' moves to the subject position and the doer is placed after 'by'.

Question 45Language I

Complete the sentence with the correct verb form: 'If I ____ his phone number, I would call him at once.'

  1. knew Correct answer.
  2. had known
  3. will know
  4. know

Explanation

The main clause uses 'would call', which marks a second conditional describing an unreal or unlikely present situation. The if-clause of a second conditional takes the past simple form 'knew', even though the meaning is present.

Question 46Language I

A newly appointed teacher 'cut her teeth' in a small village school before moving to the city. What does the idiom mean in this sentence?

  1. delivered a lecture without any preparation
  2. lost her temper in class
  3. resigned from the teaching post
  4. gained her earliest practical experience Correct answer.

Explanation

'Cut one's teeth' means to acquire one's first practical experience of an activity, much as a child's first teeth appear at the beginning of life. In the sentence it shows that the village school gave the teacher her initial professional grounding.

Question 47Language I

Report the following sentence correctly: He said, 'I am going to Delhi tomorrow.'

  1. He said that he is going to Delhi tomorrow.
  2. He said that he was going to Delhi the next day. Correct answer.
  3. He said that he had gone to Delhi the next day.
  4. He says that he was going to Delhi tomorrow.

Explanation

Because the reporting verb 'said' is in the past, the present continuous 'am going' shifts back to the past continuous 'was going'. The time expression 'tomorrow' also shifts to 'the next day' in indirect speech.

Question 48Language I

A teacher presents the question form 'Where is the library?' through a short dialogue about the school building, then drills the pattern orally before learners practise it in pairs. This procedure is most characteristic of

  1. Communicative Language Teaching built on information-gap tasks
  2. the Grammar-Translation Method with rule explanation and translation
  3. the Situational-Structural (oral-structural) approach Correct answer.
  4. task-based language teaching organised around a class project

Explanation

The Situational-Structural approach selects graded structures, presents them in a meaningful situation and follows presentation with oral drill before any written work. That is exactly what happens when a question pattern is taught through a school-building dialogue and then practised aloud.

Question 49Language I

In the sentence 'Although the syllabus was heavy, the teacher found time for remedial work', the clause 'Although the syllabus was heavy' is

  1. a relative (adjective) clause qualifying 'the teacher'
  2. an adverbial clause of condition
  3. a noun clause acting as the subject of the sentence
  4. an adverbial clause of concession Correct answer.

Explanation

The subordinator 'although' introduces a clause that concedes a point which contrasts with the main clause, so it is a subordinate adverbial clause of concession. A conditional clause would be introduced by 'if' or 'unless', and a relative clause by a relative pronoun such as 'who'.

Question 50Language I

In the word 'photography', the primary stress falls on

  1. the first syllable
  2. the third syllable
  3. the fourth syllable
  4. the second syllable Correct answer.

Explanation

'Photography' divides as pho-tog-ra-phy, and the primary stress falls on the second syllable, giving /fəˈtɒɡrəfi/. The related noun 'photograph' shifts the primary stress to the first syllable, which shows how stress moves within a word family.